Paper dispenser

ABSTRACT

A dispenser for holding and dispensing several rolls of paper products, such as wax paper, aluminum foil and paper towels, having a door hinged to the front thereof and provided with slots through which the paper is dispensed. A pair of vertically spaced trays are swingably connected to the sides of the container and are swingable between an operative position for supporting a pair of rolls and an outwardly angled position for loading fresh paper rolls thereon. A wire support having inwardly curved end portions for reception in a third roll of material is swingably connected through the lower portions of the door to the container.

United States Patent l l3,n03,5119

Inventors Jerry A. Brown;

Charles E. Schroer, both oi Columbus,

11nd. Appl. No. 8197716 Filed Apr. 28, 1969 Patented Sept. 7, 11971 Assignee Hamilton Cosco, INC.

Columbus, 11nd.

IPAIPER DISPENSER 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

11.8. C1 242/553, 225/38, 242/5553. 312/39 11m. Cl B6511 119/04, A47k 10/22 Field of Search 242/553, 55.53, 55.2, 55.55; 312/39, 40, 41; 225/38, 46, 47, 42, 34

Primary ExaminerGeorge F. Miautz Att0mey-Trask, Jenkins & iHianley ABSTRACT: A dispenser for holding and dispensing several rolls of paper products, such as wax paper, aluminum foil and paper towels, having a door hinged to the front thereof and provided with slots through which the paper is dispensed. A pair of vertically spaced trays are swingably connected to the sides of the container and are swingable between an operative position for supporting a pair of rolls and an outwardly angled position for loading fresh paper rolls thereon. A wire Support having inwardly curved end portions for reception in a third roll of material is swingably connected through the lower portions of the door to the container.

PATENTED SEP 7197i mvsmo JERRY A. BROWN CHARLES ESCHRDER IPAIPIEIIII DISPENSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Dispensers for rolled paper products are known in the art, but they have presented several problems to the user. For example, some of the existing devices provide too much of a drag on the paper roll so that as paper is pulled through the dispensing slot it is inadvertently torn. On the other hand, in some devices the paper unrolls too easily, and therefore, when a tearing force is applied to the paper, the roll continues to unroll, thereby preventing the paper from being torn along a straight line. It is desirable in any paper dispenser to provide a convenient means of loading the device with new rolls of paper, especially in the situation where the dispenser may hold several different types of paper rolls. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a dispenser for rolls of paper goods which permits the paper to be unrolled freely to a chosen length and then permits the user to accurately tear the paper at such chosen lengths. It is a further object to provide such a dispenser wherein the rolls of paper goods may be conveniently and easily loaded into the dispenser.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, there is provided a dispensing container for holding several rolls of paper or foil products which may be dispensed through the front cover of the container. Said front cover forms a door which is hinged at its lower end to the container and has a plurality of elongated, vertically spaced slots through which the rolls of material are dispensed. A plurality of trays adapted to support a plurality of rolls are pivotally mounted on sides of the container for movement between their roll-supporting and dispensing position in which their forward edges are adjacent a plurality of the door slots and a tilted loading position in which they can be easily loaded with new rolls of material.

A generally U-shaped support wire having a pair of legs in terconnected by a transverse bight is provided in the lower portion of the container to receive a larger diameter roll of material. The ends of the wire legs pass laterally outwardly through the lower portions of the door and are swingably con nected to the container to provide hinges for the door and to swingably mount said wire in the container. Each of said legs angles upwardly from its connection to the container and is provided with an inwardly directed loop intermediate its length for insertion into the cylinder of the roll to be supported thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TIIIE DRAWING The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. II is an isometric view of a paper dispenser embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the container shown in FIG. II with the door opened;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the support wire shown in the bottom portion of the container in FIG. 2;

FIG. l is a partial view of the container of FIG. 2 showing one of the trays in an operative supporting position and one in a tilted loading position; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. ll.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown, our dispenser comprises a container lltl formed from interconnected top, bottom, side, front and back walls, Ill, l2, 13, Ml and 15, respectively. The front wall M defines the edges of a large opening in the front of the container which is closed by a door to hinged to the lower end of the container. Said door comprises a front panel I7 having rearwardly projecting flanges lid and I9 along its upperand side edges adapted to fit inside the front wall I l. Conveniently, a plurality of recesses 2d are formed in the door flange llli which cooperate with a plurality of projections 211 on the front wall lid to releasably lock the door in its closed position.

A plurality of rolls of paper or foil products are adapted to be dispensed from the container, and to this end, a plurality of vertically spaced transverse slots 22, 23, and 245 are formed in the door panel 17. Conveniently, the upper edges of the slots 22 and 2.3 are serrated, as at 25, to facilitate tearing off lengths of the materials being dispensed. As shown in FIG. 5, a flange 26 angles also upwardly and inwardly from the door panel I7 along the lower edge of each of the slots 22 and 23 to help guide the material from their rolls outwardly through said slots.

The illustrated embodiment is adapted to dispense two small rolls and one large roll of paper or foil type products. The small rolls, which are dispensed through the slots 22 and 23, are supported in a pair of vertically spaced, transversely extending trays 2d and 30 identical in construction. Each of said trays comprises an elongated arcuate supporting channel 32 adapted to support a roll of the material to be dispensed. The front edge of the channel 32 terminates in an upwardly projecting front wall 34 whose upper end is curved forwardly and downwardly to form a rounded guiding surface 36 over which the material must be drawn as it is dispensed from the slots 22 and 23. As shown, the forward edges of the guide surface 36 terminates closely adjacent the door panel I7 so that the material being dispensed from the tray follows a closely defined vertical path from said tray to its adjacent slot in the door. Conveniently, in order to laterally center the roll on the tray 28, fingers 37 project rearwardly from the ends of the front wall 34 to engage the end of said roll.

Tabs All project forwardly from the ends of the channel 32 and are connected to the container side walls 113 as by pivot pins 42. In this manner, each of the trays 28 and 30 is swingable about the axis pins 12 between a generally level operative roll-supporting position as shown by tray 28 in FIG. d and a tilted loading position as shown by tray 30 in FIG. 4. In order to support the trays in their operative positions, stops M project outwardly from the container wall M to engage the underside of the guiding surface 36 on each tray 28 and 3t) and thereby prevent said trays from tilting rearwardly in the container. With the channels 32 disposed well rearwardly of the axes of pins 42, the trays will be prevented, as by gravity, from accidentally tilting forwardly. In order to permit such forward tilting, however, for moving the trays into loading position, the guide surface 36 and walls 3d are notched, as at as, to permit limited forward tilting of the trays for loading. As shown, the door side flanges 19 are notched as at 47,. to clear the stops 44 as the door is swung into its closed position.

A support wire 4% is mounted in the lower portion of the container for supporting a large diameter roll of material in a position to be dispensed through the slot 2d. As shown in FIG. 3, said wire has a generally U-shaped configuration and comprises a pair of legs 50 interconnected by a transverse bight Ell. Each of the legs fill comprises a rear stretch Stla connected to the bight 511 and projecting upwardly therefrom for connection to a downwardly and forwardly angled front leg stretch 50b. The ends of the leg stretches Stlb terminate in laterally projecting feet 52 which extend through openings in the door side flanges lll and are swingably received in openings in the container front wall M for thus swingably mounting the sup port wire in the container and hingedly connecting the door to said container. Intermediate their lengths, the leg stretches Stllb are provided with inwardly projecting loops 54 adapted to be inserted into the ends of a roll for thus mounting said roll on the support wire.

In loading the support wire 418, it is swung forwardly about the axis of its feet 52 into a tilted position, and the legs 50 are sprung laterally outwardly to permit the loops SA to be inserted into the ends of the roll being loaded. As will be apparent, the loops can be sprung inwardly or outwardly for decreasing or increasing their cross-sectional extents to adjust the rotational drag on the roll supported thereon. After the roll has been placed on the wire, it is swung rearwardly into its operative position in the container with its bight 5i resting on the container bottom wall 12, whereupon the door 16 can be closed and the material supported on said wire can be dispensed through the slot 24.

While the invention has been described as employing supporting trays and a wire for dispensing three rolls of paper or foil type products, it is to be understood, of course, that any number of such trays and wires could be employed for dispensing any desired number of rolls of products without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A dispenser for rolled products, comprising a container having an open front, a door swingably connected to said con tainer for closing the front thereof, said door having an elongated transverse slot formed therein through which said products can be dispensed, a tray having a roll-supporting channel extending transversely across said container adjacent said slot, means on said tray swingably connected to said container for movement of said tray between a generally level operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, a wall extending upwardly from the forward edge of said channel and terminating in a guide surface, and at least one stop on said container engageable with said tray for releasably retaining said tray in said operative position.

2. A dispenser for rolled products comprising a container having an open front, a door swingably connected to said container for closing the front thereof, said door having an elongated transverse slot therein, a wire support extending transversely across said container adjacent said slot and having a pair ofjlegs swingably connected to said container and interconnected by a transverse bight, said legs having means for supporting a roll of the product to be dispensed thereon and being movable between a generally level operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, and a floor on said container engageable with said bight for supporting said wire support in operative position.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 with the addition that the ends of said legs project through said door and are rotatably received in said container for swingably connecting said door and wire support to said container.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 2 in which each of said legs comprises first and second angularly connected stretches, said first stretch being connected to said bight and second stretch, said second stretch being connected to said first stretch and rotatably interconnected to said container, and an inwardly projecting loop in said second stretch receivable in an end of said roll for supporting said roll on said wire support.

5. A dispenser for rolled products, comprising a container having an open front, a door swingably connected to said container for closing the front thereof, a transversely extending tray having a roll-supporting channel, a pair of outwardly extending fingers at the ends of ,said channel swingably connected to said container whereby said tray is swingable between a generally level operative position and a tilted rollloading position, a wall extending upwardly from the forward edge of said channel and terminating in a forwardly extending guide surface, and stops on said container engageable with said guide surface for releasably supporting said tray in operative position, said door having adjacent said tray an elongated transverse slot formed therein through which said product is dispensed.

6. A dispenser for rolled products, comprising a container having an open front, a plurality of vertically spaced roll-supporting trays extending transversely across said container ad jacent the front thereof, each of said trays being swingably connected to said container for movement between a generally level operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, a roll-supporting support wire rotatably connected to said container in vertically spaced relation to said trays and swingable between an operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, means on said container for supporting said trays and support wire in their operative positions, and a door swingably connected to said container for closing the front thereof, said door having a plurality of elongated transverse slots formed therein through which the rolled products on said trays and support wire can be dispensed. 

1. A dispenser for rolled products, comprising a container having an open front, a door swingably connected to said container for closing the front thereof, said door having an elongated transverse slot formed therein through which said products can be dispensed, a tray having a roll-supporting channel extending transversely across said container adjacent said slot, means on said tray swingably connected to said container for movement of said tray between a generally level operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, a wall extending upwardly from the forward edge of said channel and terminating in a guide surface, and at least one stop on said container engageable with said tray for releasably retaining said tray in said operative position.
 2. A dispenser for rolled products comprising a container having an open front, a door swingably connected to said container for closing the front thereof, said door having an elongated transverse slot therein, a wire support extending transversely across said container adjacent said slot and having a pair of legs swingably connected to said container and interconnected by a transverse bight, said legs having means for supporting a roll of the product to be dispensed thereon and being movable between a generally level operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, and a floor on said container engageable with said bight for supporting said wire support in operative position.
 3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 with the addition that the ends of said legs project through said door and are rotatably received in said container for swingably connecting said door and wire support to said container.
 4. The invention as set forth in claim 2 in which each of said legs comprises first and second angularly connected stretches, said first stretch being connected to said bight and second stretch, said second stretch being connected to said first stretch and rotatably interconnected to said coNtainer, and an inwardly projecting loop in said second stretch receivable in an end of said roll for supporting said roll on said wire support.
 5. A dispenser for rolled products, comprising a container having an open front, a door swingably connected to said container for closing the front thereof, a transversely extending tray having a roll-supporting channel, a pair of outwardly extending fingers at the ends of said channel swingably connected to said container whereby said tray is swingable between a generally level operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, a wall extending upwardly from the forward edge of said channel and terminating in a forwardly extending guide surface, and stops on said container engageable with said guide surface for releasably supporting said tray in operative position, said door having adjacent said tray an elongated transverse slot formed therein through which said product is dispensed.
 6. A dispenser for rolled products, comprising a container having an open front, a plurality of vertically spaced roll-supporting trays extending transversely across said container adjacent the front thereof, each of said trays being swingably connected to said container for movement between a generally level operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, a roll-supporting support wire rotatably connected to said container in vertically spaced relation to said trays and swingable between an operative position and a tilted roll-loading position, means on said container for supporting said trays and support wire in their operative positions, and a door swingably connected to said container for closing the front thereof, said door having a plurality of elongated transverse slots formed therein through which the rolled products on said trays and support wire can be dispensed. 